break of day

English

Noun

break of day (uncountable)

1. Daybreak.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXIX:

     Haply I think on thee, and then my state,

     Like to the lark at break of day arising

     From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate.

   • 1897, James M. Barrie, chapter 5, in Margaret Ogilvy:

     Well, with break of day she wakes and sits up in bed.

   • 1920, Thornton W. Burgess, chapter 6, in The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum:

     "You've got to rise 'fore break of day

     If you want to fool old Mr. Jay."

   • 2001 August 6, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, "Wailing Over Whales," Time:

     Wholesale buyers and curious onlookers pack Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market at the break of day.

Synonyms

• break of dawn

References

• “break of day”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.